ProjectSummary/Abstract Dovetail Genomics has adapted our in vitro proxity-ligation method for fecal metagenomics applications. We are developing a powerful and efficient approach to de novo metagenomics assemblythatwillallowtheresearchandbiomedicalcommunitiestomovebeyondsinglelocus moleculecountingorstatisticalinference.Successfuldevelopmentofthisapproachwillprovide a single, integrated workflow for accurate assembly of all major constituents of complex metagenomics communities. This tool will enable a comprehensive understanding of the ways ourgutmicrobiomeinfluenceshumanhealthanddisease. In this project, Dovetail Genomics will develop the modifications to the laboratory procedures necessarytoefficientlycaptureandrepresentthediversityofmicrobespresentinahumanfecal sample. We will also modify and develop a new computational approach to metagenomics assembly that exploits the rich datatype that we generate. This computational approach will achievehighlycontiguousscaffoldingandstraindeconvolution.Weenvisionarobust,fool-proof laboratoryprotocolandsoftwareproductthatallowsacliniciantogenerateacomprehensiveview ofthedynamichumangutmicrobialenvironmentfromasmallfecalsampleinamannerofdays.